Here are some links to some articles from Ryan Howard’s appearance here yesterday.

Jeff Moeller in the Daily News: “It was a good day,” Howard said. “To have my number retired here was something special. Lakewood will always have a special place in my heart.”

Ray Parrillo in the Inquirer: LAKEWOOD, N.J. – Ryan Howard returned to the little jewel of a ballpark where it all began for him as a professional baseball player eight years ago.

The Phillies’ single-A affiliate, Lakewood, welcomed the Big Piece, as Phillies manager Charlie Manuel calls the slugger, as a conquering hero Friday and made him the first BlueClaw in the 10-year history of the club whose number was retired.

Tony Graham in the Asbury Park Press: “We welcome back one of our own,” intoned Lakewood public address announcer Kevin Clark in the pregame ceremony.

Howard, standing near home plate, acknowledged the roar of the crowd which included his mother, Cheryl, and brother, Corey, with a wave of the hand and a tip of the cap.

David Weinberg in the Press of Atlantic City: “He was a very good player back then, but anyone who says they thought he’d be a star is full of baloney,” said 82-year-old Sam Christopher, who has lived in Lakewood for 70 years. “He was a little chubby back then and he would either strike out or hit a home run. But he was one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.”

Matthew Osborne in the Trentonian: “He has a great swing, great approach,” Howard said of Singleton. “You could see that in his first at-bat ripping that ball up the middle. He has a bright, bright future ahead of him.”

One night after Ryan Howard and 10,000+ fans, the BlueClaws have arrived in Hagerstown to open the final road trip of the regular season. Four here and then four more in Hickory, Lakewood’s likely first round playoff opponent.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Jonathan Pettibone (5-6, 3.75)
HAG: LHP Mitchell Clegg (9-1, 2.52)

Atop the Rankings…Howard drove in his 92nd run of his BlueClaw career on Friday, putting him atop the franchise leaderboard in that category…He broke a tie with Travis Mattair and Randy Ruiz, who each had 91…Howard drove in 87 in 2002 and four more during a 2007 rehab appearance at FirstEnergy Park…Sebastian Valle had 15 last year and has 72 this year…He is five away from tying the record…Leandro Castro, who had six last year, has 74 this year and 80 in his BlueClaws career, 12 off the record.

(more…)

“They did that, right…On my retirement day?” That was Ryan Howard commenting on the fact that Greensboro employed the overshift in getting him to ground out in the 3rd inning. That was about the only low point of the night for Howard.

What follows are some quick hitters…

He had his #29 retired in a pre-game ceremony…

• He was presented a framed #29 BlueClaws jersey by BlueClaws General Manager Geoff Brown.
• “For them to be able to recognize me in Lakewood, kind of where it all began for me, is special,” he said. “Lakewood will always have a special place in my heart.”
• His mother Cheryl and brother Corey were in attendance.
• On sharing the moment with family: “Having your jersey retired is very special no matter what level it is. To have an organization show you that kind of love and respect and think that highly of you, that’s something you want to share with your loved ones.”

On the rehab assignment:

• Howard went 1-2 with a walk…He walked his first time up, grounded out to 2nd base in the 3rd inning and doubled to left-center in the 6th inning.
• His double drove in Leandro Castro with Lakewood’s only run and broke a tie with Travis Mattair and Randy Ruiz for the franchise RBI record.
• He now has driven in 92 runs (87 with Lakewood in 2002…four in a 2007 rehab appearance…and one tonight).
• “I feel good. The ankle feels good. We’ll see what happens. Each day, it’s getting better.”

Some more…

• The attendance of 10,032 was the second largest in team history and just the third time the team eclipsed the 10,000 fan plateau.
• In a five-minute stretch…Howard made an error…the red eyeball fell 10 feet from the finish line, blowing the eyeball race, and a father dropped a foul pop on the suite level. He was immediately booed by his daughter.

More info here.

Guess who’s in town tonight? Ryan Howard arrived at FirstEnergy Park around 2:30 this afternoon, took a little batting practice (pictured) and is batting third tonight for Lakewood. As I type (6:26), we’re about 30 minutes away from his jersey retirement ceremony.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Julio Rodriguez (3-0, 1.86)
GBO: LHP Chad James (3-9, 5.32)

Welcome Back Ryan Howard…Ryan Howard, who played with the BlueClaws in 2002 and rehabbed with Lakewood in 2007, will rehab here tonight…He has been on the disabled list since August 3rd (retroactive to August 2nd) with a left ankle sprain…Howard hit .280 with 19 HRs and 87 RBIs with Lakewood in 2002, the team’s second year.

One More RBI…Howard has 91 RBIs as a BlueClaw, tying him for the franchise record with two others (Travis Mattair, 07-08 and Randy Ruiz, 04)…He is two home runs short of Juan Richardson’s team record of 22, set in the team’s inaugural season of 2001…Howard had one home run and four RBIs during a two-day rehab appearance in 2007 (May 23rd and 24th).

Retired Numbers…The BlueClaws will retire the #29 Howard wore while playing for the team in 2002…He is the first former BlueClaws player to have his number retired…There are two other numbers that will never be worn by a BlueClaws player (42, retired by Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson and 50, retired by the South Atlantic League in honor of former league president John Henry Moss, who was president of the league for 50 years).

(more…)

In case you missed it from earlier, Ryan Howard will be here rehabbing on Friday night at the park.

Some notes from the rehab appearance:

• We’ll retire his number 29 before the game. The ceremony was PPD from September 2nd because the Phillies have a make-up game in Colorado.
• He rehabbed here in 2007.
• Howard has been on the DL since August 2nd with a left ankle sprain.
• He is tied with two others (Travis Mattair and Randy Ruiz) for the franchise RBI record and trails Juan Richardson by two for the franchise home run record.

Mark Parent walked up to Jonathan Singleton before the game and said “Hey, you’re DHing tomorrow.” Singleton asked why. Parent told him why. And Singleton smiled.

Should be a fun day.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park here in Lakewood where tonight the BlueClaws and Greensboro Grasshoppers meet in game three of a four game series. The clubs have split the first two.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Josh Zeid (6-4, 2.74)
GBO: RHP Robert Morey (0-2, 2.36)

Dig the Long Ball…Sebastian Valle had hit one home run through May 27th, but since then has hit 15 home runs, most in the league in that period. Valle has hit seven home runs since July 26th and five in August…Valle hit six home runs with Williamsport last year after starting the season with Lakewood…He turned 20 on July 24th.

On the Improve…Lakewood’s pitchers have improved the team ERA each month this year…April 4.26, May 3.09, June 2.76, July 2.70, August 2.30.

(more…)

Before Wednesday’s game against Greensboro, we sat down with BlueClaws pitching coach Steve Schrenk for a few minutes.

Brody Colvin got hit with a comebacker on Tuesday, how’s he doing? He’s doing a lot better today, moving around I wouldn’t say he’s out running sprints or running long distance but he feels better today. There’s no limp. He took a shot off the ankle yesterday, a one-hopper, and when it hits bone it has a tendency to hurt and bruise up a bit. But he should be ok.

Trevor May will start for your tonight, you got him on 4th of July weekend and its been about six weeks. How has he progressed from then until now (UPDATE: May won his sixth start on Wednesday, allowing three runs in six innings with 12 strikeouts)? He’s made a lot of progress. One of the big things the organization wanted when they sent him here was to get his confidence back and that’s what he’s done. He’s done a nice job getting his confidence back and with confidence comes success he’s had some success here so he feels better out there hes attacking the zone more, taking it one pitch at a time and not getting ahead of himself. He’s not looking in the future or the past when he makes a bad pitch. Mechanically we’ve made a few adjustments here or there but getting him back here where he did well last year I think it helped him a lot.

Command and confidence go together you said before. How important? It’s huge, knowing where your throwing the ball and trusting your stuff and making sure your making pitches. Having the success hes had here in the past helped him even more this year.

(more…)

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park where tonight the BlueClaws and Greensboro Grasshoppers meet in the second of a four-game series. First pitch at 7:05 (as I type at 4:11, we’re going to take the tarp off the field at 4:30).

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Trevor May (5-2. 2.44)
GBO: RHP Erick Carrillo (5-5, 4.44)

May Day…May, 20, makes his 9th start with Lakewood after opening the year with Clearwater, where he went 5-5, 5.01…He was sent to Lakewood on July 4th when LHP Matt Way was promoted to Clearwater…May threw seven shutout against Delmarva on Friday, the second time he threw seven shutout against Delmarva in a span of 17 days…May has allowed a total of four earned runs over his last five starts (covering 32 innings pitched)…In those 32 innings, May has allowed 18 hits, 10 walks, and has struck out 45…He is 4-1 in that stretch…May does lead the minors in walks, with 79 in 118 innings between Lakewood and Clearwater

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Just went up on the roof to say hello to the Roof-man, where he was interviewed by Erin Vogt of Thunder 98.5, Hit 106 and the Breeze Radio. You can here the interviews over the next few days and he’ll appear live on the Thunder 98.5 morning show with Chris Van Zant later this week.

Anyway, Ragan was highly amused by those learning how to drive motorcycles in the parking lot, driving around in circles all day. But got a kick out of those learning how to drive trucks in reverse, leading to a constant “beeeeeeeeep beeeeeeeeep” sound from his perch.

He’s well stocked with all the essentials: Doritos, Fritos, and movies like Old School and The Hangover.

On a more serious note, here are the details on the Saturday blood drive and you can sign up online here.

All donors receive a free BlueClaws ticket voucher and are entered to win tickets to see Broadway Shows including 39 Steps (Tony Award winner, Hitchcock play), The Gazillion Bubble Show, and Stomp, the International Sensation.

From today’s Asbury Park Press, manager Mark Parent said Brody Colvin is doing fine after coming out in the third inning last night. He was struck in the leg with a line drive and had to leave the game.

“[Athletic trainer] Mickey [Kozack] tells me he’s doing fine, it wasn’t as bad as it looked,” Parent said. “I thought it killed him the way he laid there.

“I’m not going to throw him out there and change his mechanics and risk hurting him.”

As for Colvin making his next scheduled start, Parent said, “We’ll have to monitor it and see how it goes.”

That is certainly good news. Colvin laid on the ground for a few minutes after he was hit.

—

A bunch of Future BlueClaws played last night in the NY-Penn League All-Star Game in Staten Island with Miguel Alvarez, hitting .322 with Williamsport, going 2-2 with a home run.

Welcome back to FirstEnergy Park where tonight the BlueClaws will look to start a four-game series against Greensboro with a win. Brody Colvin takes the mound for the BlueClaws.

Game Notes
Listen Live (at 6:50)

LAK: RHP Brody Colvin (6-7, 3.17)
GBO: LHP Edgar Olmos (3-6, 4.01)

Throw-Back-The-Clock Night…Tonight’s pitching match-up of Brody Colvin and Edgar Olmos was the match-up on April 16th, Lakewood’s home opener…Greensboro won the game 3-2, with Colvin allowing three runs in five innings to take the loss…Olmos gave up two runs in five innings to earn the win.

Hoppers Last Stand…Greensboro enters this four-game series tied for third place with West Virginia, six games behind first place Lakewood and 2.5 games behind second place Hickory…If the BlueClaws win the second half, having already won the first, their playoff opponent would be the team with the next best record, likely Hickory (10.5 games ahead of 3rd place overall)…Greensboro is 5-9 over their last 14 games and has lost five of their last seven.

The Killer B’s…Stephen Batts has eight multi-hit games in his last 11 games, an 12-game hitting streak, and is 29-74 over his last 17 games…Jeremy Barnes has hit safely in his last nine games and is 15-32 over the stretch.

(more…)

This Thursday (our 2nd to last Thirsty Thursday of the year) is Ladies Night at the park, a jam-packed night of fun for women of all ages. All the details below…

• Drink specials and a ClawsCove discount for our female friends
• Vendors including all girls’ martial arts, salons, boutiques, financial information, beauty schools, and modeling agencies
• Fans can win tickets to see Love Loss on Stage, an off-Broadway show. The collection of stories by Nora Ephron is performed by a rotating cast of stars.
• Starting in the second inning there will be a Shoe Fashion Show courtesy of The Shoe Society. Female fans are encouraged to wear their hottest shoes! The winner will get a free night stay and dinner at the Borgata in Atlantic City. (Call Casey at 732-901-7000 ext 168 for more information)
• There will be a Diamond Dig thanks to Bentley Diamond. The dig will be open to the first 250 women to sign up at the Bentley Diamond table on the concourse. After the game, registered participants will be escorted onto the field where they can dig for the diamond.

And…

• Antonella Barba, former American Idol contestant and Point Pleasant native will be at the game to promote her new single Jersey Girl. Antonella will be on the concourse signing autographs and she’ll throw out a ceremonial first pitch.

See you Thursday.

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